Minority populations continue to be underrepresented on medical school faculties in the US, per the American Association of Medical Colleges. This stands in stark contrast to projected demographic changes in the US that indicate increasing Hispanic and African-American populations and a decreasing European- American population. The consistent dearth of underrepresented minority engaged in biomedical research could impair the ability of the scientific community to adequately recognize, identify or address, specific health problems that are of particular concern or unique to minority communities and individuals. The goal of this program is to help redress this critical imbalance. The program's objective is to enter a formal partnership with Jackson State University (JSU) in which their students and faculty benefit from a consistent and sustained relationship with graduate faculty from IUPUI. The outcome of this collaboration will result in: 1) Master's curricula that link with first year doctoral curricula, 2) Up to nine faculty members from JSU with established collaborations with senior faculty at IUPUI, and 3) As many as nine minority students will graduate from the master's program and complete Ph.D. programs in the basic medical sciences at IUPUI. We will accomplish the objectives by implementation of many initiatives: (A) IUPUI and JSU faculty will discuss the content of master's degree course work and first-year doctoral courses to ensure curricula overlaps appropriately; (B) IUPUI faculty will mentor JSU scholars; (C) JSU Faculty will spend summers in IUPUI researchers labs; (D) three JSU master's students will be selected annually as fellows which will entitle them to summer research experience at IU:PUI and tuition remission and assistantship during their course work and thesis research, (F) Guaranteed admission to IN Univ. Graduate School at Indianapolis upon completion specific criteria. The collaborations will increase the minority students completing terminal MS degrees and entering Ph.D. degree programs in the biomedical sciences and increase the research capabilities of JSU faculty and enhancing their ability to train promising graduate students. [unreadable] [unreadable]